IDB, Microsoft and Infusion to help Haiti launch e-government platform

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in partnership with Microsoft Corporation and Infusion, will help the Haitian government launch a technology platform to provide secure communications, host critical information systems and recover key databases lost in the January 12 earthquake.

The Haiti Integrated Government Platform (HIGP) will equip the Haitian public sector with state-of-the-art tools to generate, store, share and analyze information needed to plan, execute and monitor activities. The platform is also aimed at increasing transparency and efficiency in the use of reconstruction resources.

HIGP is based on Microsoft technology leveraging cloud computing and hosting capabilities. Its open architecture will foster collaboration among government agencies, avoiding a proliferation of isolated IT systems. One of its first goals, which is expected to be reached in a matter of weeks, will be to provide a secure e-mail system for Haitian officials.

The IDB approved a $3 million grant for the project, which will be executed by the Office of the Prime Minister (Primature). Microsoft will provide technical expertise and remote hosting services. Infusion, a Microsoft worldwide government public sector partner of the year, with recognized technical expertise in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, is building and designing the HIGP and its initial applications.

One of the key features of the HIPG is a web-based dashboard that will display data on the reconstruction process. Information will be available in English, French and Creole, the language most frequently used in Haiti.

The dashboard will aggregate information generated by the Haitian government, the Interim Haitian Reconstruction Commission and other partners in the reconstruction effort, such as the United Nations Development Program and Development Gateway, NGOs and the private sector. Besides data, the application will be able to display documents, video and photographs.

In addition, the HIGP project team is working to coordinate its activities with other international partners involved in Haiti’s reconstruction, including the World Bank, the Organization of American States, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

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Kira there was not as far as I know a consolidated computing facility. Various ministries did have facilities of thier own. Various government ministries are operating throughout the city. The President is working out of an undamaged portion of the White House.

Rick, I agree. What is the status of rebuilding or building or retrofitting a government office? Someone pointed in the direction of where the president was residing and I thought were government was working out of but I never saw much more than a blur...Was there prior to the quake, a government data center? I know that sounds like a silly question but nothing surprises me.

Not a problem Kira. So many in Haiti discuss network and internet as if they are the same thing. The government needs a central information infrastructure that both government and citizenry can access. This project is a great start I just believe the infrastructure should be in Haiti not just to reduce expensive extra-national traffic but to foster user base.

Kira the network and internet are not synonymous. That is the point of my first project. Your points on the BTC fiber are all valid. The complexities of the government telco monopoly that his been now transferred to Veittel are far beyond my capability to understand.

The initial US fiber buildout was funded primarily by landline telephone companies after the elimination of the monopoly on landlines that was the primary purpose of the dissolution of AT&T. The profit drivers that were at the foundation of that tremendous investment do not exist under a monopoly. When one adds in the fact that a society can be fully networked without a single terrestrial cable now complicates the investment analysis.

In this particular project were there a shared regional data center in Haiti the necessity to carry intranational traffic via the existing and expanding WiMax infrastructure the majority of traffic would stay off of the external network.

I understand the BTC fiber is hugely expensive to use, therefore, no one was using it, except for Teleco (a government owned utility that recently bought by Veittel). I am find no logic to have something and having it priced so high that nobody uses it. How is that good business? Would it not be better to make some profit off of this fiber? As it seems to be in everyone's interest (Haiti, the people of Haiti and all telecommunications companies) to use this fiber as it is superior, I would think a deal could be made with BTC. And Teleco having government ties could use either their existing share of that fiber (however many strands they own). In the US, we often have joint fiber builds, so one company isn't paying for all the maintenance. Perhaps the telecommunications companies in Haiti could barter with BTC together for x strands of fiber...sometimes what one little company can not do, a group can.

As for the government (and non government) which needs connectivity in various cities outside of PAP, I would think there is enough business to go around for all. It seems an analysis of what areas of Haiti have internet (network) coverage, which areas are not covered and which companies could easily expand coverage in each area needed would be a good idea.

I'm not exactly sure how to structure telecommunications industry here in the US, much less in Haiti but it seems like there needs to be more collaboration in Haiti, so that there is redundancy and such. And I do believe the government should invest in improving communications in the country, as it will help business, education and thus the economy. It seems like the funds should be allocated for this project but also to improve communications in general.

The success of this worderful initiative is subject to connectivity issues. In order to be effective it is needed that all gouvernement bodies have a decent internal IT and good connectivity to the internet

As regard connectivity in PAP there is no big problem as my company and my other friends/competitors are doing a good job. Most of the gouvernemental institutions are now connected with dedicated bandwidth ranging fro 2 to 8Mbs by wireless carrier class infrastructure

As regards internation connectivity the problem is more cost then capacity. ; all internationa connectivity is going trough Domican operators which transport data from Haiti to the fiber landing by microwave and some limited overland fiber segments. Restoring the Bahamas cable is not as soution as the cost of bandwidth trough that route was 2 times more that the already high cost of the dominican route.

The real problem wi be to give good connectivity to the gouvernamntal bodies outside PAP in the provices and rural area

As conclusion to make succesfu this project funds must alocated so that givernamental istitutions coud purchase the internet access services they need.

@Emma I misunderstood. Within metro Port au Prince the WiMax networks of MultiLink and AccessHaiti have sufficient infrastructure to permit communication with a local regional data center and associated applications. That means government offices; businesses; individuals with access to the WiMax infrastructure including many cyber cafes. The key expense in a WiMax installation is the internet backhaul. If that backhaul is taken out of the picture (excepting small footprint traffic) and all of the communication is intra-metro the cost to deliver this service to users is very low.

The consolidation of email traffic internationally away from hundreds or thousands of users (as the current proposal quoted specifies) to a cloud of email servers in Haiti means that the scalar of users goes up by orders of magnitude. The ability to deploy individual WiMax access devices in computers expands the user community even further. Much of the email traffic is internal in these sorts of systems; no need to go to the internet.

The more users access e-government the more effective that portal. It took many years for this particular suite of capabilities to be accepted in wired nations. The rest of the world is keyed and ready to adopt.

@Kira:

There is a sufficiency of technically capable individuals in Haiti at this time from the engineering perspective. Government ministries themselves have infrastructure engineers who simply need skills tuneups and the physical infrastructure with which to work.

I heartily endorse this and all efforts in Haiti being driven by Haitians. I have been endorsing and actively supporting that concept since January 13 the date of my initial involvement. I do not know the full background on this project however I am told by people I know and respect that it is Haitian-driven.

Having been in Haiti and coming from a telecommunications background, I understand the communications problems which exist (thus your hosting issue), especially when it comes to internet. The lack of infrastructure (electricity, fiber, etc.) makes any project a challenge. I’ve even spent a good chunk of time trying to figure out how to re-energize the BTC fiber that goes to the Bahamas and is grossly under-utilized, even prior to the earthquake. I still think this fiber could be turned up and data passed over it (after a few adjustments, the fiber was only used for voice, not data) if someone was given this project.

That being said, I believe the human factor will be equally challenging in this project. Not that you don't know this, but I thought I'd mention it. You can implement amazing things with tons of money but getting people to use new technologies will be a challenge, especially if they are to make things transparent (something a good portion of the government will not want). Additionally, training Haitian staff, checks and balances being put into place will also be essential. I am not negative on Haitian’s abilities but I am skeptical that the appropriate motivators to keep people honest will be put into place. Additionally, change needs to be understood and managed in a way that people can cope effectively with it. People affected by the change need to agree with it, or at least understand it or the need for it. Haitians need to be involved in the process of planning as well. That is just my two cents. I’ve developed great systems and procedures but they are worthless if no one uses them. So, now I go about things differently, I bring certain people on board to the planning process early on. Sorry, not meaning to sound preachy, just heard a lot of “you’ll never get a Haitian to do that” kinda of talk, and I think they are wrong. I’d like to see this project succeed. And I am not saying anyone here said anything along those lines. If there is anything I can do...anyone, let me know.

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